You can now pay your monthly Extra Space storage rental via AXS Station.
Other services available on AXS Station:
• Bills & Fines Payment
• Season Parking & Road Tax Renewal
• Prepaid Cards Top Up
• Resort & BBQ Pit Booking
• And many other e-services
Singapore's self-storage business is booming - and not just because home and office space is getting more expensive. Industry players said it's a young, but fast-growing market driven by the storage needs of individuals and households.
Our lifestyles are getting more and more varied and we need extra space to make room to do what we love. We see more people storing sports and hobby-related equipment including flight simulators, dolls, books, comics and more.
Extra Space is extremely optimistic about the self storage industry. With shrinking living spaces and bigger lifestyles, we believe people will increase the use of self storage to make more room in their lives. Small and medium enterprises use self storage to simplify their work space by storing their goods with us. For businesses, space is at a premium so they need to spend their resources on driving results, not on real estate. Hence, start-up businesses use our storage space as they are good cost-saving and flexible alternatives to traditional warehouses.
The best way to maximise space with shirts and pants is ....
1) Decide which shirts and pants you really need to keep. You don't want to keep something that you don't even wear.
2) Vacuum-pack the garments before storing them. This compresses your clothing so it takes up far less room in storage.
The best way to store suits is ....
1) Wash or dry clean them. Put the suit into a suit bag and insert some cedar or moth balls to help ward off insects. Do not store them in the plastic sheets from the dry cleaners.
2) Get a good clothes rack into the storage unit and hang the suit on good quality hangers. You can then hang the clothes on the rack.
The best way to prevent mildew or moth is ...
1) Mildew – Do not use water or wet cloth to clean the items before storing into boxes. It’s not wise to place your clothes in bin liners as moisture can get trapped inside when they’re sealed and your clothes could be ruined. Similarly don’t pack items into sealed plastic bags as humidity can cause mildew. Store in air conditioned storage unit at constant temperature and humidity level. Use products such as “Thirsty Hippo” in the storage unit to absorb moisture.
2) Moth - Use cedar or moth balls
The best way to keep leather designer handbags is ...
1) Always put the bag back to the original dust bag for the handbags before storing. Also insert the original stuffing so that it helps retain the bag’s original shape. Store in air conditioned storage unit at constant temperature and humidity level.
The best way to store shoes is ...
1) Clean before storing. Label it the box, stick a picture of the shoes on the box for easy identification or use clear box and stack it in storage.
WITH a conspicuous red and blue colour scheme in its facility, four- year-old storage letting business Extra Space Self Storage makes a bold statement. 'All part of the image branding,' a company spokesman says with a smile.
For some, the colours may be mildly reminiscent of Swedish furniture giant IKEA. And why not? With furniture movers and hobbyists making up a significant bulk of Extra Space's customer base, its business does, in a sense, address lifestyles as well.
Having previously engaged in the wine storage business when he was still living in Sydney, company CEO Michael Hagbeck originally intended to start a wine storage facility here, but soon recognised and capitalised on the local market potential for other kinds of self storage, a familiar and commonly found industry in regions like Australia, the US, Canada, and Europe.
Apart from Mr Hagbeck, Extra Space Singapore Holdings Pte Ltd is also jointly owned by NYSE-listed Lazard Limited and Boustead Holdings, a listed Singaporean company, and run by CFO Kenny Tham, and GM operations, Jeannie Sng. The company is also a member of the Self Storage Association of Australasia (SSAA) and the Singapore Business Federation.
Indeed, space is a commodity in land-scarce Singapore - it is not surprising that many a space-starved household or stock-heavy business would turn to alternative storage options to accommodate certain needs.
In addition to wine aficionados, home-grown SME numbers continue to ride an upward trend, and Singaporeans are also increasingly adopting less conventional hobbies - with both recreational and more serious aims - such as canoeing, mountain-biking, and even teddy bear collecting.
Currently, consumers are categorised into approximately three main areas: 20 per cent of business comes from SMEs - most of which are notably local - who keep mostly inventory stocks and some documents, with home movers and lifestyle hobbyists (including wine collectors) each constituting 40 per cent respectively.
The business concept centres around do-it-yourself (DIY) storage, offering a flexible range of storage options - from lockers for students and backpackers to 450 sq ft rooms that can store company product stocks - to individual, family, and business clients for a self-specified time period.
The private and self-contained storage units are all under 24-hour security surveillance including a personal access code system enabling customers efficient access to their property 24/7.
Extra Space has a niche in wine storage, boasting the largest walk-in wine storage facility in Singapore. Its wine storage facilities and services at Boon Keng Road and Eunos Link outlets include both lockers and walk-in cellars holding up to 400 cases, with cellars maintained stringently at 13 degrees Celsius and a constant 65 to 75 per cent humidity.
Value adding to their wine storage service is the presence of complimentary tasting rooms, directly adjacent to the storage cellars.
According to Mr Hagbeck, Extra Space has an edge over competitors because of its emphasis on service - customers get highly personalised treatment, including specially tailored advice on renting space for their items.
Other draws include the provision of specialised self-storage insurance, the use of specifically trained termite detecting dogs as part of its pest control system, and the convenience of online self storage operating software offering real-time information on space availability across all its branches.
Extra Space has seen steady growth in the past few years since its 2007 opening, and Mr Hagbeck is optimistic that the market will only pick up as firstly, new entrepreneur businesses and SMEs continue to emerge; and secondly, as the local community's interest in lifestyle and recreational activities keeps developing.
Also encouraging the positive outlook is its ability to retain clients - Extra Space has done fairly well in getting customers to stay, having kept 34 per cent of their clientele for a period of a year or more.
Some of these are business clients who have actually made storage renting with Extra Space a part of their business model, Mr Hagbeck says, effectively incorporating Extra Space into their business. In view of such trends, a further doubling of the business' existing storage space is on the cards, slated for completion by next year.
From a pioneer outlet of 268,131 sq ft, Extra Space today consists of five strategically located storage facilities islandwide, altogether totalling close to 617,000 sq ft in area, or 2.3 times larger than its starting size.
Extra Space says that it outshines its competitors by a margin of roughly 20 per cent, in terms of growth speed - gaining an average of around 3,000 new clients yearly.
Total company assets were worth $62 million as of FY2010, reflecting a phenomenal leap of almost 13 times from its $4.8 million value in 2007. Given these numbers, it is hardly surprising to learn that Extra Space broke even within the first two years of business.
Marketing wise, Extra Space has established a name of sorts for itself - both on and offline. There is a considerable amount of marketing and advertising carried out via television, for its mass penetration; Mr Hagbeck states the importance of public education as one factor aiding industry growth.
He estimates that currently about half of Extra Space's business comes from the online platform, with around another 25 per cent of the company's customers being introduced through word of mouth.
Mr Hagbeck's parting shot? It is fundamentally necessary to 'have (a) feel of what locals need and want', says the CEO, who read Singaporean secondary school geography textbooks in the lead-up to hatching out the business. Good, sound advice that certainly seems to have served Extra Space well so far.
Want to see how the different storage rooms look like? Take a look at our virtual tour now! Don’t worry, images are clear and you’re able to rotate the camera or set it to self-rotate! A 360°-view of our storage rooms right on your browser!
Visitors to our website will find this new feature useful for them to visualise how our storage units look and also gauge better how the different storage sizes can meet their specific storage needs. Visitors can view how a vacant unit looks like and also how it will look like when items are stored inside. You can view our locker, small room, medium, large room as well as wine cellar from here.
You can now pay your monthly Extra Space storage rental via AXS Station.
Other services available on AXS Station:
• Bills & Fines Payment
• Season Parking & Road Tax Renewal
• Prepaid Cards Top Up
• Resort & BBQ Pit Booking
• And many other e-services
Our newest facility is strategically located in the central north of Singapore and is conveniently accessible via the PIE and CTE. We offer customers a wide range of storage units, giving you the flexibility to rent space sizes according to your needs. These range from large lockers for students and backpackers and small 16 sq ft walk in storage units which can store a few boxes, to big 170 sq ft units. Customers also benefit from the freedom to up or down size at any time (subject to availability). You can rent your own clean, dry, private, self-contained storage room, and lock it with your own padlock. Our facility also feature sophisticated 24-hour security systems including a personal access code system which allows customers to access their property at their own convenience, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Call +65 6304 3200 to book your storage space now.
Refer a friend & get $50.00 credit toward your storage rental. There’s NO LIMIT to how many friends you can refer! For each friend that you refer, who rents a unit, we will give you a $50.00 credit toward your next storage rental.
• $50.00 will be credited to referrer storage rental and not exchangeable for cash.
• Other terms and conditions apply.
• Please contact us at +65 6304 3200 to find out more.
We are pleased to announce that you can now make payment via credit cards issued from DBS, POSB, Citibank and Diners at all AXS stations for your monthly storage rental. This payment mode is in addition to the currently available NETS payment on the AXS stations.
The simples steps for credit card payment at the AXS Station as follows:
Select “Finance” – “The respective Bank” – “Payment via credit card” – “General” – “Extra Space”, thereafter just follow the on-screen instructions to complete the payment.
Air-Paq’s unique design holds a series of adjoining inflated air chambers that cushions and
protects items for storage or transportation. It is suitable for wine bottles and fragile or
sensitive items
that require extra care and protection.
Each air-paq measures 36 cm x 14 cm x 10 cm, ideal for a standard 750 ml wine bottle.
We are pleased to announce that you can now conveniently make payment for your monthly storage rental through more than 650 AXS Stations island-wide operating 24 hours daily. This service will be made available from 13 May 2010 onwards.
Simply follow on-screen instructions to complete the transaction or contact us for the detailed step-by-step guide. For further information on AXS Station, you may visit www.axs.com.sg Click here for manual
NYEC’s objective is to educate the youth and public about the values leading environmentally-friendly lifestyles, to inspire participants to create a proactive learning environment, and to empower youth leaders with the capability to effectuate changes in the community. This year, the much-awaited NYEC 2010 will be organized in conjunction with the World Environment Day. NYEC 2010 is co-organised by Ci Yuan CC Youth Executive Committee and Youth EnvirOylmpics Council, partnered by Aljunied-Hougang Citizens’ Consultative Committee, People’s Association Youth Movement and National Environment Agency (NEA). The 2 main programmes of NYEC 2010 include the En-Mazing Race and the Official Event, with focus on our theme on water. These two events will be held on 5 June 2010. Click here to find out more.
The collecting of wines has really taken off in Singapore over the last decade or so and I am sure many of us will have a few bottles lying around the house somewhere. However, there are two main problems with collecting wines in Singapore. The lack of space, as well as the hot weather.
I remember when I was a medical student doing my rural attachment, I was assigned to an Australian Doctor who had a practice in Cessnock which is a mining town right next to the Hunter Valley Wine Region. He had a huge basement cellar with thousands of bottles under his house. Every night he and his wife would have a bottle of wine to accompany their dinner. Now, if you are drinking wine because you heard that it protects your heart, may I gently remind you that the recommendation is one glass of red wine a day. It is the tannins in the red wines that are cardioprotective and one glass is enough. So don't go drinking a whole bottle of Chardonnay and think you are doing yourself good!
Not many of us living in Singapore have a cellar, so what do you do with your bottles of wine? I tell you what I used to do with my first few bottles. I did the most logical thing and put the bottles in a 9 bottle wine rack on top of the fridge! I only realised later that that was the worst thing to do because the vibration, heat and light just means that I have created the most expensive vinegar distilling factory!
You ever read the writing on a box of cough medicine? It always tells you to store it in a cool dark place. Same thing with the wine. Traditionally they are stored in caves which keep the temperature of the wines between 7 to 18 degrees and away from light. But as far as I know, there are no caves in Singapore so the good people at Extra Space Self Storage have come up with the HDB version of the wine cave.
Interior of each compartment
Not Barossa Valley, Boon Keng Alley
This purpose built wine storage facility is temperature and humidity controlled so that the wines can age optimally and there are also backup electricity generators in the event of power failure, so that you can rest easy with the knowledge that your stash will always enjoy cool aircon comfort. Besides the wine storage facilities, Extra Space have normal storage rooms which you can rent to extend your own storage space. However, their business first started off as a facility for wine storage so this is still their area of expertise.
There is 24 hour security access to the wine storage facility so that you can check on your bottle of Dom Perignon in the middle of the night should you suddenly feel that you need to cradle it in your arms. Access is by security code and every person is issued a different code so that they know who is accessing the facility. There is also a wine tasting area should you wish to share your wine collection with a couple of friends.
Conclusion
We live in a country where space is such a premium that some people even keep their Koi in farms where
they visit only on weekends! I guess if you have a
growing wine collection and you got a couple of boxes which you need to age for a couple of years, this is a great option especially when the wine fridge is running out of space.
So tell us, do you keep your wines on top
of the fridge?
AXS Station is now available at Extra Space Boon Keng Road facility (starting from 29 Dec 2011)
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